I'll Be Home For Christmas
by Flames101
Summary: Rossi confronts Emily with his feelings for her on the night of JJ's wedding. She wasn't ready to hear it. Six months later, Emily's about to come home for Christmas. Is she ready to come home to Rossi, too? Emily/Rossi, with a hint of JJ/Hotch. Ch 3 is new. CCOAC Christmas Gift Exchange Fic for BrightlyShining.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** Hey all! Here's a new story for you. This was written for the Chit Chat on Author's Corner Christmas Gift Fic Exchange. This story was written for BrightlyShining; I hope I've done your prompts justice and Happy Holidays!

I hope you all enjoy and will let me know what you think! Happy Holidays!

**Prompts:** O'Holy Night; dirty snow slush; gingerbread; a nativity play.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Criminal Minds.

**Chapter 1:**

* * *

"You're coming home, right?"

Emily let out a sigh at the hopefulness she heard in JJ's voice. She snuck a peek through her curtains at the busy, bustling streets of London. It hadn't snowed in over a week and what was left of it was now coating the city in a layer of dirty snow slush, very not pretty. How anyone could celebrate or even want to celebrate Christmas in these conditions, Emily didn't know. She sure as heck wasn't put in the Christmas-y mood. But was that enough to get her on a plane?

"I don't know…" Emily finally responded.

"Come on, Em, we miss you," JJ continued. "And I know you miss us."

"I do, I miss you all. It's just… I might be working," she confided.

On top of the weather, her job was another spirit-killer. Yes, she was heading up her own department. And yes, she was essentially the boss. But, she was so very behind in all aspects of her work. Everything about her career change was a challenge to say the least, near impossible at the worst of times. She really had no idea how hard it was being in charge prior to starting. Really, she had no clue how Hotch did it.

"That's it, time to call in a few favors," JJ announced cutting into her work-induced-blues.

Her eyes widened in alarm. She could hear her friend flipping through pages. "Working through Christmas, my ass…" Emily heard her mutter.

"JJ, no!" Emily exclaimed.

"Well, then, say you're coming home," she countered quickly. "Henry and Jack are going to be in their school's nativity play. Henry's playing baby Jesus. You can't miss that.

"And… Garcia's baking her famous shortbread cookies, you love those. Morgan's even skipping Christmas at home to spend it with us.

"And you so can't miss this… Reid's bringing his new girlfriend to our house for Christmas dinner."

"_Reid's_ got a girlfriend?" she asked in surprise. "Our Reid?"

"Yes!" JJ replied laughingly. "See, now you can't miss meeting her."

"No, I guess I can't…" She exhaled a breath, considering. "How's um… Dave?" she asked tentatively.

"He misses you," JJ divulged readily.

"Did he say that?" she questioned, unsure.

"No, he uh never mentions you, but that's how I know."

Emily frowned at her friend's logic. She was inclined to believe the opposite; that never mentioning her meant he wanted nothing to do with her. That's what she believed. After all, the way they'd parted hadn't exactly been pleasant. She couldn't help but remember the hurt look on his face at JJ's wedding to Will. He hadn't even come to the airport to see her off the next day along with the others. And they hadn't said a word to each other since.

"I miss him, too," she admitted.

Too bad he'd said what he'd said. Too bad she hadn't been able to give him what he'd asked for…

~ ! ~ ! ~ !

* * *

"_Stay. Don't go."_

"_What?" Emily replied sharply. She shook her head as if to clear it, sure she hadn't heard right. This couldn't be the important thing he'd asked to speak to her about while they'd been dancing on the dance floor earlier tonight._

_Rossi let out a breath. "I said, stay, Emily." He held his hand out to her in a plaintive gesture, pleading with her to heed his words._

"_Dave, I… I…" She was at a loss for words. His request had come out of left field._

No, it didn't,_ a voice in her head argued. _You two have always been close. And things changed between you two six months ago…

Six months ago…_ she thought whimsically. Six months ago she'd received a phone call, from Dave. He'd drunk dialed her, asking her to come over. That's when she'd found out he'd been secretly dating Strauss, that's when she also found out that the Section Chief had dumped him. _

_But, that was also the night when he'd revealed something that had changed things for Emily. He'd told her that the only reason he'd been with Strauss in the first place was because he couldn't have _her_._

_It had come as quite a shock. At the same time, she'd had no clue how to respond. And luckily he'd changed the subject pretty quickly, making her think that maybe she'd imagined him saying it. But after that night, there was no denying that they'd become closer. And there was definitely no mistaking the emotion in his eyes whenever he looked at her. The pure—_

_She shook her head, not letting herself think _that_. "Dave, what are you saying?" she finally managed._

_He closed the distance between them. They stood in the middle of the deserted dance floor, the wedding all but over. The cleaning crew would be here soon, she was sure. And when they arrived she didn't want to be in the middle of it all, doing this, whatever this was._

_Rossi's hands landed on her shoulders, firmly cutting off her chance for escape. His touch sent warm tingles throughout her body and she didn't want to dwell on why that was. _

_He gave her a shrewd eye, silently questioning her, as if asking her if she really didn't know what he was getting at._

"_You know what I'm saying, Emily. I'm asking you not to go to London. I'm asking you not to give up your life here. I'm asking you to stay here, with me!"_

_Her mouth dropped open in surprise. Her eyes searched his dark ones looking for answers to her unasked questions. And there it was, the answer, wrapped up in that one burning emotion she saw in his dark depths. _

"_Dave… I… no, no." She wrenched herself from his grasp, walking to the edge of the floor. "I can't, I—" He was so silent in the face of her protests that she had to turn around to face him. He looked so determined. He looked so in—. "Why?" she asked desperately._

_Once again, he took steps towards her, but this time he stopped short, about three feet away. Emily watched him watch her. He was searching for something, she didn't know what. Their eyes met and she had to admit something electric passed between them, something she couldn't define yet. Shivers went down her spine; she pulled her shawl closer to her, though she had a feeling the shivers had nothing to do with the cool, night breeze in the air._

_Whatever the thing was, she could see that Dave suddenly knew its name. But he wasn't telling._

"Why_?" he started, voice hoarse from emotion. He held his hands out to either side of him, palms up. "You know why. I told you months ago that it's always been you." Her eyes widened; so he remembered that night, those six months ago… "I never wanted to be with Erin. It's always been you. I have loved you for so long and so much that it hurts. I never thought it would be possible… but things changed between us. I know you've felt it. I know you feel it. And I know you feel something for me, too."_

_He stopped talking abruptly and she realized he was waiting for her to say something. She'd been completely mesmerized by his words, completely taken in by them. And for a moment there she completely believed in them._

_But, just as quickly as that moment had come, her brain started turning, thinking. All the reasons why this was ridiculous ran through her mind. _

This isn't right!_ They were colleagues, friends, nothing more. She had her life to live. A life she'd chosen to take overseas. And she was going to do just that. What Rossi said was impossible, because the only thing between them was friendship._

"_I'm sorry, Dave, I am going," she told him regretfully._

"_But, Emily—"_

_She shook her head cutting him off. She had to avert her eyes because she couldn't stand seeing the hurt in his eyes. "No, Dave, I'm sorry, but you're wrong. The only thing I feel for you is friendship. And I'm going to London tomorrow. I only hope we can continue to be friends…"_

_Emily chanced a glance at him. His lips were pursed and he still looked hurt. But at the same time there was a sense of determination emanating from him. "I don't believe that—" He held up his hand to her when she made to protest. "I just don't, Emily. But, I can see _you_ are set on believing it. So go, but, I'm sorry Emily, I can't just be friends with you, not anymore. I just… can't."_

_She watched him, in shock, when he began to walk away. "Hey!" she near shouted. "What does that mean?"_

_He stopped, back to her, his shoulders slumped. "It means that I'm letting you go in hopes that that saying is true, 'if you love something, let it go. If it comes back, it's yours forever…'" He turned to eye her carefully. "I told you how I feel. I love you. The next move is yours."_

~ ! ~ ! ~ !

* * *

Emily remembered how defeated she'd felt when he'd begun to walk off. She recalled how much she'd wanted to tell him what he wanted to hear, but couldn't. She couldn't because she was afraid.

She was still afraid.

That was the last time she'd spoken to him. Six months of not talking to the man who had essentially become her best friend did not make for a happy Emily. She'd been perpetually cranky since and it had all culminated to this moment now. So, what was she going to do about it?

"Ok," she breathed out. "Ok, I'll come."

"Yay!" JJ exclaimed. "I'm so glad. I can't wait to see you… And who knows, maybe Rossi's feelings have changed."

Emily frowned. "I don't know, JJ…"

"Hey, it could happen. I mean look Aaron and I. Six months ago I was married to Will. And now I've got a happy life with Aaron and the boys," JJ said cheerfully.

She rolled her eyes. "You and Hotch were meant to be. Everyone saw it… except for you two."

"Well, who knows maybe you and Dave—"

"No," she denied firmly.

JJ went really quiet at that and Emily realized she'd said it more harshly than she'd intended. She was on the verge of apologizing when JJ asked solemnly, "What are you afraid of, Em?"

It was on the tip of her tongue to deny it, but she'd already admitted it to herself, why not say it out loud? "I'm afraid of change… I'm afraid of messing everything up… I'm afraid of losing _him_."

"But, Emily," JJ said sadly. "Can you honestly say that you have him right now?"

She let out a sigh. JJ had a point.

* * *

Well that's it for this first chapter. I'll have the next chapter up tomorrow or, I guess seeing as its past midnight already, later today. I really hope you enjoyed!

Oh and title is a tentative one. I'm horrible with titles and it may change if/when I can come up with a better one.

Anyways, hope you let me know what you think!


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Hey again. Here's chapter 2. Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday's to all. I'll be posting again tomorrow (I believe it may be the final chapter, if not, I'll be posting at least one more tonight so I can make the Christmas Day deadline). I hope you're all enjoying. And hopefully you'll let me know what you think of this. Thanks!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Criminal Minds.

**Chapter 2:**

* * *

Rossi reluctantly walked up the path to JJ and Hotch's home, wanting to be anywhere but here. He just wasn't in the mood for all this holiday stuff. Festive feeling he was not. And he didn't think it was right to expose Jack and Henry to his bah-humbug-ness. But when JJ had phoned him earlier she'd been all frantic and had insisted that he come over right away to babysit. So, here he was.

Reaching the door, he was about to knock when it opened unexpectedly. "Good, you're here!" JJ exclaimed and he dropped his hand back to his side. She stepped out onto the porch with him. "Jack and Henry are at the table, coloring. They should be fine for another hour or so. Lunch is in the fridge. It just needs to be heated up." She turned and shouted into the house. "Uncle Dave is here. Have a good time, kids!" And then she stepped around him, ready to leave him in her dust.

"Wait, JJ," he called, incredulously. He'd never seen the blonde in such a frenzy before. "Where's Hotch?"

"Picking up a few things for the boys," she answered quickly.

"Reid? Garcia? Why can't they babysit?" he questioned quickly, really not wanting to be here. "Or even Morgan or Alex?"

"Busy, busy, and busy. Relax, Dave, the kids are contained, all you have to do is sit and watch them," she assured.

He made a face when she turned to go again. "Where are you going?"

"Airport. And I'm late," she threw over her shoulder. "Emily's flight will be here soon."

"What? Emily?" he exclaimed in surprise, but JJ was already down the path. She gave him a wave from her car and was off.

Dave continued to stand there, completely stunned, immobilized.

_Emily? Emily is coming home… What could that mean? Wow… Emily…_

There hadn't been a day that passed that he didn't think about her. Nonetheless, he admittedly had begun to give up hope. Six months with no contact from her did nothing to bolster his spirits.

_Well, what did you expect?_ a snarky voice said inside his head. _You pretty much issued her an ultimatum…_

He let out a harsh sounding sigh. _Yeah, I guess so. But I was hurt…_

_Yeah, your ego was hurt when she didn't jump right into your arms at your proclamation of undying love,_ the voice shot back.

_Maybe…_ Maybe that had been part of it. As he looked back on their last encounter he sometimes couldn't believe what he'd said. That he couldn't be friends with her anymore. At the time he'd believed that he couldn't bear to have Emily in his life if she couldn't be truly his. But now, months later, he was starting to realize that he'd take her in his life anyway she wanted. Because no Emily whatsoever was pretty unbearable.

Dave blew out a breath; seeing it fog in front of him, he suddenly realized that he was still standing outside. He shook himself out of his unhappy thoughts and stepped into the house, shutting the door behind him.

"Boys?" he called out.

"In here, Uncle Dave," he heard Jack's voice call back from somewhere in the vicinity of the dining room.

He made his way through Hotch and JJ's home and found the two young boys sitting at the table, an array of crayons spread across the table that was peppered with blank and colored paper galore.

_Poor trees, _Rossi silently lamented, still in a mood.

"Uncle Dave!" Henry exclaimed, jumping out of his seat to hug his legs.

A smile overcame his face as he bent down to pick up the four year old. He should have known, it was pretty much impossible to be in a bad mood around these guys. "Hey Henry, it's good to see you."

Jack remained seated; he was at the age where he was becoming more reserved in his actions, but he still gave him a pleasant, "Hi, Uncle Dave."

Dave reached a hand out and ruffled his hair. "Hey there, kiddo. What are you two up to?"

"We're drawing," Jack answered readily.

Rossi set Henry back in his seat, taking an empty one across from them. "Sounds like fun."

Henry grabbed one of the blank pieces of paper and thrust it towards him. "You, too, Uncle Dave."

Dave took the paper, partially crumpled by the little boy's small fist, and set it before him.

"We're drawing what we want most from Santa," Jack informed.

"What do you want Santa Clause to bring you for Chris-mas?" Henry asked him, his blue eyes wide and eager.

What did he want most for Christmas? That was easy. Emily. She was who he wanted.

And maybe his wish was in the process of being granted. She was coming home, after all…

* * *

It was sometime later when Rossi was startled out of his thoughts. Had he really been sitting all this time, silent? He looked at his two companions; they were coloring away, studiously. Engrossed in the activity, they didn't seem to notice his pensiveness.

He realized a second later that it had been the sound of a door slamming that had brought him out of his thoughts of Emily and a second after that Hotch was entering the dining room.

"Hi dad," Jack greeted calmly.

Henry stood up in his chair, holding his arms out for the man. "Daddy!" he exclaimed.

Hotch scooped the little boy into his arms, who proceeded to wrap his arms tightly around his neck. Rossi caught Hotch's eye and raised an eyebrow at him, thoroughly surprised by this turn of events. Rossi knew Will was very much still in his son's life, still in all their lives, considering JJ and Will's split had been amicable.

Hotch gave him a small shake of his head, mouthing the word "later" at him and Rossi let it go for now.

"Hi Jack, Henry, you guys having a good time with Uncle Dave?" He set Henry back down in his seat and bent to give his son a kiss on the cheek.

"We're coloring," Henry informed him proudly.

"Can I see?" Hotch asked as he took a seat next to Henry, across from Dave.

Jack placed his picture at the center of the table for all to see. It showed a royal blue rectangular box in the center of the page with swirly lines all around it. At the top of the box Jack had written Police Box.

Rossi didn't get it. _Jack wanted a box full of policemen?_

"We're drawing pictures of what we want Santa to bring us…" Jack told his dad.

Hotch grinned at his son. "I'm sure Santa will bring you what you want, with a little help from The Doctor, of course…"

Jack giggled happily. _The Doctor?_ Rossi was so not following and Hotch moved on to his other 'son.'

"What about you, Henry?"

Henry proudly placed his pic next to Jack's. They all leaned forward to see what the tyke had drawn. There was a house in the center of the page. The house was the same color as the house they were in. Two tall figures stood in front of it, a man and a woman. JJ and Hotch, from the looks of it. Two shorter figures stood next to them, one yellow haired, one black. Jack and Henry, Rossi surmised. It was a nice picture of a lovely family, nothing out of the ordinary about it at all. Except… There was an even smaller figure next to Jack and Henry.

"I don't understand, Henry… What would you like for Christmas?" Hotch questioned, perplexed.

Henry thrust a short finger at the small figure. "I don't want to be the littlest anymore, daddy. I want a baby bwothor—"

"—Or sister," Jack interjected, making Rossi think this baby-concocting wish wasn't all little Henry's idea.

"Can Santa bring me a baby, _daddy_?" Henry asked with wide, innocent eyes.

Hotch looked taken aback by Henry's request. Seemingly stunned speechless, Rossi couldn't resist poking fun at his best friend. "Yeah, can he _Hotch_?" He matched Henry's hopeful tone, exactly.

Hotch glanced his way; he was sure his friend wanted to give him the famous Hotchner-glare, but refrained for the children's sake. "I'm sure Santa is doing what he can…" Hotch answered after a moment's hesitation. "Now, why don't we see what Uncle Dave has drawn?"

Dave looked down at his own sheet, curious to see what he'd come up with, considering he'd been so lost in thought. He wasn't surprised to see a big, dark brown blob.

"What's that, Uncle?" Jack asked, wrinkling his nose at the sight.

"I'm not quite sure, Jack…"

Henry tugged at Hotch's sleeve. "What is it, son?"

Rossi watched as he pulled Hotch down so that he could speak into Hotch's ear. Apparently Henry hadn't mastered the art of whispering yet, because the next thing he knew Henry was loudly whispering, "I don't think Uncle Dave knows how to color…"

"I don't think so, either," Hotch agreed, more than amused. "He's pretty bad at it, isn't he?" Henry gave a big nod in answer. Together the two looked back at the paper and shared a laugh.

"It's a very nice… brown um… bubble, Uncle Dave," Jack tried to reassure. Rossi gave the boy a grateful smile.

"Ok, boys, how about some lunch?" Hotch suddenly announced. The two boys agreed quickly. "Why don't you take all this to your rooms and wash up. Uncle Dave and I will get lunch ready…"

Henry and Jack ran off with as much clutter as their little fists could carry, leaving him and Hotch to sit there alone, in silence.

After a moment, Hotch shot him his own raised eyebrow. "Want to talk about it?"

Rossi had a feeling Hotch wasn't talking about his abhorrent art skills. But he wasn't about to talk about his feelings, not with the King of not-talking-about-his-feelings, at least.

"Yeah," he said quickly. "_So_… when are you and JJ going to get down to making Henry's Christmas wish come true?" Hotch's mouth dropped open, but before he could respond, Rossi added, "Oh, and Henry calling you daddy? What's up with that? How does Will feel about that, considering you already stole his wife away?"

He was only joking, of course; he needed to deflect somehow.

"That's not what I was talking about… And I didn't steal JJ away… We just happened," Hotch sputtered out.

"Yeah, you just happened while she was still married to Will?" Rossi questioned.

"Dave, you know that nothing happened between us before she got the divorce. I would never do that… Will's my friend," Hotch stated solemnly.

"I know," Rossi agreed. "You're a good man."

"Henry started calling me daddy two weeks ago. I think he just wants to be like Jack. The three of us all sat down together; Henry understands that Will will always be his father, first. And after all talking together, Will is ok with it, too. We all love Henry, he's happy, that's what matters," Hotch explained.

"I guess having twice the dad's means twice the presents. Yeah, I'd be happy with it, too," Rossi relented and then asked slyly, "And the baby making?"

"Stop Dave, it's not working," Hotch countered, giving him that glare, finally. "Why don't we talk about the fact that that brown blob is the exact shade of Emily's hair?"

Dave turned a sharp eye back down to his 'drawing.' Amazingly, it was.

"You know she's coming over for Christmas?"

"I do, now," he answered carefully.

Hotch frowned. "You still haven't called her?"

"No. And she hasn't called me either," he replied defiantly.

"What do you expect, Dave?" his best friend lamented. "She's under the impression that the only way you'll want to hear from her is if she declares her undying love for you first…"

"I know…" he responded miserably.

"How could you do that?" Hotch shot back, making him feel lower.

Rossi gave him a sharp look. "It seemed to work for you with JJ."

JJ and Will's wedding hadn't been completely the happy occasion it seemed to be. Rossi had wandered into an awkward conversation between Hotch and JJ. He'd overheard his best friend telling the former media liaison that he loved her, but he couldn't be around her when she was with Will. It had been an awkward month around them at the BAU and only he had known the true reason why. Oh sure, everyone knew the two of them were in love with each other. But no one knew that at least one of them had finally realized it. Until, finally, another month later JJ figured it out, too.

It had worked for Hotch. Why not him?

"You and Emily aren't JJ and I," Hotch said. "It's like you were always telling me, we loved each other from the beginning."

"Well, it's the same for me and Emily," Rossi argued.

"Maybe…" Hotch said unsurely. "But, Emily's not JJ. The way you went about it isn't right. Hell, it wasn't right for me either. I was miserable, JJ was miserable. And I was so close to caving, I just wanted her to be in my life. Her and Henry."

Rossi gave him a surprised look. That's exactly how he was feeling now. Maybe he had been in the wrong…

"I just wish she would have given us a chance…" he finally spoke up.

"I know…" Hotch nodded. "She's coming back; maybe this is your chance to try again. Or, you know, at least renew your friendship…"

Rossi nodded going quiet as he considered what to do.

"JJ's trying to convince her to stay through to New Years," Hotch informed. "You've got time to put it to rights…"

Yeah, it seemed that way. But just how would he start…

* * *

That's it for this chapter. Hope you liked.

And thanks to my one reviewer, **p95000**.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** Hey all! So sorry, I meant to have this up yesterday, but I had too much fun watching the Doctor Who marathon on TV all day. But, I'm so glad you guys are enjoying this. Here is the conclusion to I'll Be Home For Christmas. Hope you like.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Criminal Minds.

**Chapter 3:**

* * *

"I'm going to check on Henry and Jack; I'll be right back," JJ whispered loudly.

Emily watched her friend hurry off through the rows of people gathered to watch the play. It was intermission time and some of the children were up on the stage singing O' Holy Night. The whole thing had a sweet air to it. It calmed her somewhat frazzled nerves, for sure.

The others were scattered throughout the audience somewhere. She'd already seen Reid and his girlfriend, Amanda, in the back rows. Hotch, she knew, was standing at the back of the gymnasium, he and Will filming the entire play. And she was sure Morgan and Garcia were around, too. But it wasn't any of their whereabouts that unnerved her. It was the one person she had yet to see so far her two days here, the one person she hadn't seen or spoken to in six months, that had her nervous.

She was more than nervous, actually. In the two days since being home, she had done a lot of thinking. Mostly about what JJ had asked her in their conversation before she'd left London. JJ had been right; Emily _didn't_ have Dave in her life. The moment she'd let him walk away from her was the moment she'd lost him. And if she was truthful with herself, she knew she'd been miserable since.

The thing was yeah, she missed him fiercely. Yeah, she wanted him back in her life. And, yeah, she certainly cared for him deeply. But even with knowing all that, she still _didn't_ know if she could give him what he wanted. And it scared her to think that her friendship would never be enough for him.

Her thoughts were cut short when a festively decorated tin was suddenly thrust in front of her face, blocking her view of the stage. She looked to the side when the tin lowered. She followed its path and found it was attached to an arm. A familiar looking arm, clad in an expensive black jacket. Another hand went to the tin's lid, opening it, revealing decorated gingerbread men inside.

"Gingerbread?"

Emily knew that voice; she had dreams where all she could hear was that voice. She slowly began to lift her eyes. She almost didn't even let herself hope that _he_ was here _and_ speaking to her so pleasantly.

But, when her eyes finally met his, she had to believe it. Not only was he speaking to her genially, there was that old sparkle in his eyes. She couldn't see the hurt she'd seen the last time they were face to face.

"I made them myself," Dave told her.

She chuckled, caught by surprise. "You… bake?"

"Pasta isn't the only thing I can make," he revealed to her. He re-thrust the tin at her. "Try one."

Emily grabbed one of the tiny men and bit into it. She glanced back up at the stage to see that the kids were moving off the stage, the intermission looking to be over. She really couldn't believe that after six months of not speaking they were sitting there, together, like the last half of the year hadn't happened.

"Good, huh?"

She looked at him in wonder. Dave was gazing at her with unmistakable fondness. She gave him a small nod and opened her mouth to affirm as much; instead, unplanned words spilled out.

"I've missed you, Dave…"

Her eyes widened at her own words. They were true, of course, she just hadn't thought she'd be saying them in the first five minutes of reacquainting.

He didn't respond right away; continuing to hold her gaze, she could see everything he'd said to her before, there, but something else, too. Something that looked a lot like caution. Emily didn't know whether to be relieved or disappointed.

"Emily," he said carefully. "Can we step outside for a moment?"

Glancing back at the stage, she saw that the play was back on; Jack was moving across the stage, acting away. She was sure she could watch a video later on, so she nodded her head and they got up to head towards the exits.

Dave led the way up the aisle towards the door. Just before they exited, Emily caught sight of Will and Hotch standing up against the wall with twin camera's aimed at the front. Emily caught Hotch's eye and he raised an eyebrow at her in question. All she could do was shrug her shoulders. She, herself, had no clue what was about to happen next.

The pair of them silently made their way through the school's hallways. It looked like their destination _was_ outside. She was glad she'd kept her coat on.

Dave held the door open for her and she stepped outside, immediately accosted by the crisp, icy air. She thrust her hands into her coat's pockets, turning to look across the school's yard and up at the midnight blue sky. She could see the tiny ice particles twinkling like stars in the sky, reflecting off the light coming from the school's windows.

"I've missed you, too…"

She turned to face him, startled to hear him speak in the face of such quietness. Once again, they gazed at each other long and hard. She had no idea what he was looking for. But she did know what she was searching out. Her next step. What the heck to do now that she had him near.

"Emily—"

"Dave—"

They both stopped just as quickly as they had started. Emily hadn't known what she'd been about to say so she gestured for him to go on.

"I've wasted a lot of time already, I hope you you'll forgive me if I skip the small talk for now," Dave said wryly. She waved her hand for him to go on, just as eager as he was to get through this, whatever this was. "I was a fool—"

Shocked by his choice of words, she shook her head. "Dave, no—"

"Emily, let me, please," he pleaded.

She closed her mouth, lips forming a thin line. This wasn't what she had expected.

"Back at JJ's wedding, I was wrong," he told her.

Narrowing her eyes unsurely, she asked, "You were wrong? You don't love me?" He shook his head and her heart fell for some reason. Isn't this what she wanted, for him to take back what he'd said so they could go back to normal? "I see…" she finished, not having the courage to look at him anymore. She was so confused.

"No, I don't think you do," Rossi replied grudgingly. She heard him take a couple steps towards her and then his fingers were on her chin, gently urging her to look up. "That's not what I meant at all, Emily. I do love you," he paused, face softening, looking at her adoringly. "But, I know I was wrong about the way I did things. I wanted you to stay with me, but all I did was push you away…"

"Dave, I…" She didn't know what to say. What he was saying was true. But, at the same time, she hadn't exactly been willing to hear him out either.

After so long, Emily had thought she'd finally figured out the next chapter in her life, going to London, and living it there. But then Dave came along and started making her re-question what she'd firmly decided. To have her long-thought out decisions so easily swayed like that had disconcerted her. Making her unwilling to hear what he'd had to say to her.

Emily, she knew, was in the wrong, too.

"I meant what I said, before," he reiterated. "I do love you. But, I've realized that I can't not have you in my life and if that means it's only as friends, well," he paused, looking momentarily just as forlorn as the last time they'd talked. "Then… I'll accept that."

He stopped talking having said what he'd come to say. It was her turn now. Her turn to apologize, her turn to tell him she was wrong, too. It was on the tip of her tongue to say, 'no, you were right, about everything…' But was he? Did she really care for him in that way? Did Emily love him?

The next thing she knew, she was sticking out her hand towards him and saying, "Friends?"

She watched him lower his eyes to her offered hand and then glance back up at her. There was a flash of hurt in his eyes, gone just as quickly, and she knew she'd done it again. Messed everything up. But as he took her hand and shook it, confirming, "Friends," she had no idea how to fix it all.

* * *

Dave sat at one end of JJ and Hotch's sofa, sipping at the hot chocolate JJ had handed him on his way into the house after the play. The whole team was gathered at their home, plus a few others.

He just wasn't feeling the party atmosphere in the room. Yes, he was happy that he and Emily had reconciled, but at the same time, it hadn't gone the way his fantasies always played out. In those, Emily was admitting she was wrong, too, and declaring her undying love for him, before throwing her arms around him and planting a big kiss on him. He chuckled out loud; he guessed that's why they called them fantasies and not predictions of the future.

The thing was he'd take it. He'd take her friendship. After months of not having her in his life in anyway at all, he'd figured out that that was no way to live. Friend Emily was a lot better than No Emily.

He watched her laughing at something Will said, the two of them standing near the fireplace for the last few minutes. When Will reached out a hand to touch her shoulder jealousy reared its ugly head.

_She's not yours, Dave…_ the voice in his head reminded him.

He let out a sigh. _I know…_

As if realizing she was being watched, Emily turned her head to the side and met his eyes. He had half a mind to pretend that he really hadn't been watching her, but he was too mentally worn out for the effort that would take. She held his eyes for a moment, a question in their dark depths. And then she was turning back to Will, saying something to him, before she was suddenly headed his way.

"Hi," he said as she took a seat close to him, her body turned towards him.

"Hi," she replied simply, putting her elbow on the back of the couch to hold her head in her hands. She looked at him quizzically. "You ok?"

"Fine," he lied, avoiding eye contact. He could still feel her eyes on him, burrowing a hole into his soul. He had the urge to say, "Stop that," but refrained.

To her credit, she didn't call him out on his lie, whether it was because she had an idea what he was sulking about or that she was just respecting his privacy, he had no clue. But he was grateful that she didn't come out and say it.

"Jack and Henry were great tonight," she commented.

He took his eyes out of his dark drink and looked across the room. Jack was sitting silently with his dad and Uncle Sean, looking between the two men. Every now and then he could see the little boy imitate one of their gestures or expressions. It was completely endearing, he so wanted to be like them.

Henry was running around the room, going between everyone; Rossi had given him a whole gingerbread cookie to eat, something for which JJ had scolded him immensely, and now he was bouncing off the walls.

He smiled at the sight of the two boys.

"I'm glad JJ and Hotch finally figured it out," Emily continued. "Though, I'm also glad that Will was all right with it in the end…"

It was on the tip of his tongue to ask what she cared about Will for, but he knew that that was the jealousy from earlier talking. "Will's a good guy. And those two were meant to be together, everyone knew it…"

An awkward silence settled between them. He hadn't meant for his words to apply to them. But it seemed that's how Emily had taken it.

"Emily—"

She shook her head. "Dave, I need to say sorry, too. I didn't help matters before… I didn't want to listen… When, you were right, I should have given us a chance…"

"Us? A chance?" he asked surprised.

"Yeah, I mean… I… uh—" she stumbled.

The sound of giggling very close by cut Emily off. She gave him a puzzled look as they looked for the source. Turning their heads towards the back of the couch, there they found Henry giving them a big grin. He was propped up on something and his hand was held out above them.

Dave followed the little boy's hands and went still when he saw what the little boy held in hand. Mistletoe. _Uh oh…_

"Henry, uh…" Dave said, trying to find a way to let the kid down.

"Kiss, kiss," Henry exclaimed.

Dave chanced a glance at Emily, wary of her reaction. She slowly met his gaze, that same question in her eyes. When a grin slowly came over her face, he looked at her in amazement.

"Well…" she said in a tone that clearly implied: 'What are you waiting for?'

He raised an eyebrow at her and at one more cry of "Kiss!" from Henry he leaned forward to press his lips to Emily's in what he thought would just be a short, chaste kiss between friends.

But when she pulled him in closer, arms going around his neck, he could tell that this was it. This was the moment he'd been waiting for forever.

Dave kissed her back urgently, arms wrapping around her back, pressing his body to hers. He lost himself in the moment, taking what she gave him, but still wanting more. He'd always want more from her. _Always…_

The sound of whistles and shouted out comments drew them apart. They looked to see their friends watching them with huge grins on their faces. When Henry ran to Morgan and the two shared a high-five, Rossi knew they'd been set up.

Emily blushed brightly, putting her face into his chest. She laughed awkwardly and he couldn't resist running a hand over her hair tenderly.

"Emily…" he whispered happily.

She lifted her head to look at him with wide, anticipatory eyes. "Yeah…"

"Merry Christmas, sweetheart..."

She smiled at him, pressing a quick kiss to his lips. "Merry Christmas…"

* * *

Well, that's it for this one. I hope you enjoyed!

Just wanted to say, I hope everyone had a happy holiday and thank you to everyone who took the time to read and review: **BrightlyShining** _(I'm so glad you enjoyed!)_; **beaglelover719** _(Glad you liked; Jack's drawing was reference to the show Doctor Who. He just wants a DW related present);_ **Classical E. Centric; p95000; kbert1961; Jotchprossi18; and dakota1013** _(I couldn't resist adding in the little bit Jotch, glad you like it.)_

Anyways, thanks for reading!


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